Royal Ballet Preferred Principal Partnerships

[Linnzi5]

1 hour ago, Emeralds said:

Just to throw a bit more unexpected mixing in the works.....those of you who were at the Diamond Celebration last November might remember Takada and Richardson as Manon and Des Grieux in the Manon bedroom pas de deux. Many of us have seen lots of performances of Manon but oh my....there was definitely a spark, a little thunderbolt between this new pairing! Would be lovely to see how they get on in a full length ballet...I think there’s definitely something special that these two bring together as a partnership. 

Yes. I would agree that there was a spark there! 

[Fonty]

2 hours ago, Emeralds said:

Possibly a little late now given her announced forthcoming retirement, but Morera and Muntagirov were wonderful together in La Fille mal Gardee, and reminded me a little of Klimentova and Muntagirov, in that like Daria, you don’t see Laura playing the character, you see just the character, eg with Daria you don’t see a 40 year old star ballerina playing Juliet, you totally see just Juliet. Laura was the same with Vadim in Fille-she WAS Lise. For a while I thought they would go on to do more Ashton works together, but we didn’t get a great amount of Ashton repertoire programmed anyway.....but it was lovely to see them reunited in A Month in the Country last spring. In the same way she and Alexander Campbell were a magical pair as Swanilda and Franz in Coppelia, and you could see they were like a real life couple (bickering over Franz’s flirting in Act One, then making up), hilarious in Act 2,  and spectacular in the Act 3 grand pas de deux.   I’m somewhat lamenting that, brilliant as Ball is (but he already danced the Prince with Naghdi’s Cinderella successfully), that it won’t be Campbell and Morera getting a chance to revive that brilliant partnership from Coppelia in early 2020, when Morera’s Cinderella is unveiled this week and next. 

 

 

I am away from the UK quite a lot of the year, so sadly I haven't seen Morera with Muntagirov, which would have been one of my dream pairings.  I did see her in Coppelia, and I agree that she and Campbell were fantastic together.  They were both genuinely funny.  She is one of my favourites, and seems to be marvellous with every partner she has.   I still think her Giselle with Bonelli is one of the best I have ever seen, and a memory I will cherish.  And I have seen a lot of Giselle performances over the years.....

 

[Suffolkgal]

Just remembering a few partnerships from the past - Collier right at the end of her performing days finding a new glow with a big hunky Tartar! He was then destined for Bussell but then started dancing with Durante ... miraculous. Anyone remember Park/Eagling? They were wonderful too

[JennyTaylor]

It’s going to be Bracewell/Nunez for R&J in Japan this summer

[Dawnstar]

5 hours ago, Scheherezade said:

And despite not generally favouring real life couples together on stage, from what I've seen of them together, Magri and Ball are magical. And is there a reason why we haven't seen more of Lamb with Campbell or Muntagirov with Hamilton?

 

I would definitely like to see Margi & Ball paired together more. I'd love to see them do R&J or Manon together. Not getting up my hopes though. No idea on Lamb/Campbell but I would hazard a guess that Muntagirov is too much in demand with the female Principals for Hamilton as a First Soloist to get a look in. By the way, if Hamilton isn't given a public performance of Manon next season then I swear I will complain to Kevin O'Hare in person!

[Scheherezade]

4 minutes ago, Dawnstar said:

 

I would definitely like to see Margi & Ball paired together more. I'd love to see them do R&J or Manon together. Not getting up my hopes though. No idea on Lamb/Campbell but I would hazard a guess that Muntagirov is too much in demand with the female Principals for Hamilton as a First Soloist to get a look in. By the way, if Hamilton isn't given a public performance of Manon next season then I swear I will complain to Kevin O'Hare in person!

 

How about Hamilton and Muntagirov? And let's not forget, she does dance with Roberto Bolle ...

Edited April 21, 2023 by Scheherezade

[Dawnstar]

I'm not even bothered who Hamilton dances Manon opposite as long as I get to see her in the role (okay, maybe not, say, Sambe or McRae as the heights wouldn't work out). I've been waiting since 2019!

[Scheherezade]

Just now, Dawnstar said:

I'm not even bothered who Hamilton dances Manon opposite as long as I get to see her in the role (okay, maybe not, say, Sambe or McRae as the heights wouldn't work out). I've been waiting since 2019!

 

And she is good. Loved her all those years back with Rupert Pennefather.

[Candleque]

This is a fun topic. Can't wait to see what people think once the schedule is announced and we can match pairs to specific ballets.

For me, am hoping James Hay gets the principal roles he deserves (with any partner except Bennet Gartside — heheh j/k they were good together).

I would book Yasmine Naghdi and Matthew Ball in anything, but for variety would say why not have them do all the classical roles together and cast Matthew with Mayara Magri in the more modern pieces (their Carousel was amazing.) And then Yasmine can do those ballets with Cesar Corrales 😁 
 

[Sue J]

I would love to see more of Sambe and Lamb together.  I saw them do Giselle in the last run, and l thought they both brought so much psychological insight to the roles.  It was very moving. I would love to see them do Manon. Muntagirov/Nunez are my favourite partnership, but l agree it would be good to see more of them dancing with other people. I would go for Muntagirov/Lamb and Bracewell/Nunez.

[Dawnstar]

2 hours ago, Scheherezade said:

How about Hamilton and Muntagirov? And let's not forget, she does dance with Roberto Bolle ...

 

She doesn't seem to dance with Bolle at the ROH though. Or at least not the last 2 times he's guested there as they were both with Nunez. On further thought, I wouldn't mind seeing Hamilton paired with Richardson in Manon. Last time she danced with Clarke but I'm sure Osipova will bag him this time round so that'd leave her free for a new Des Grieux. I very much hope Richardson's going to get to do Des Grieux in the next run (although his being cast a a Stepsister does give me slight qualms!) & pairing someone new to the role with an experienced Manon would probably be helpful. I can imagine them matching well in terms of height & build too. I wonder if there will be a big reshuffle of Manon partnerships, as they've lost 3 Des Grieux but only 1 Manon (potentially 2 if Cutherbertson's not back from maternity leave) compared to the last run.

[Nina99]

Muntagirov and Lamb were fabulous together in Manon but I would also love to see Muntagirov partner Kaneko in this ballet. Maybe Bracewell and Nunez will do Manon together since Nunez’ usual partner Bonelli is no longer around.

[balletfanatic]

I hope yasmine naghdi gets to dance Manon next season. I know she's done the bedroom pas de deux in a gala but she hasn't danced the whole ballet has she? 

[capybara]

I know that I might need to run for cover very quickly by raising this issue but it is, in my view, relevant to what is proving to be a very interesting thread.

 

Mention has been made here and elsewhere on BCF of the amazing amount of talent there is within the RB, the relatively few shows each Principal gets and the seeming lack of space for First Soloists to be cast as leads. So should management have an understanding with dancers that they will ‘stand down’ from certain roles once they have been performing them for a given number of years (seasons)? This would not preclude dancers making debuts relatively late in their careers but could create opportunities for them and others which are not currently available because certain Principals will be cast irrespective of how many times they have had a role such as Manon.

It would also have the potentially beneficial effect of ‘refreshing’ some of the pairings we have been discussing.

 

Yes, I know the question would then arise as to how best to ‘occupy’ some Principals but maybe @Richard LH could put his Kevin hat on again and kick us off with some ideas 😉 ?

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 21, 2023 by capybara

[Lizbie1]

2 minutes ago, capybara said:

So should management have an understanding with dancers that they will ‘stand down’ from certain roles once they have been performing them for a given number of years? This would not preclude dancers making debuts relatively late in their careers but could create opportunities for them and others which are not currently available because certain Principals will be cast irrespective of how many times they have had a role such as Manon.

 

It's a good idea but feels too indiscriminate to me! I'd rather there were less of an expectation from the start that most principals will be cast in most lead roles that habitually have long runs.

 

An alternative is to have fewer principals to start with.

[Sim]

18 minutes ago, balletfanatic said:

I hope yasmine naghdi gets to dance Manon next season. I know she's done the bedroom pas de deux in a gala but she hasn't danced the whole ballet has she? 

No she hasn't.  But I am sure she will get her turn next season.  It's one of the few story ballet lead roles she hasn't done (also Nikiya and Lise) so I will look forward to it.

[bridiem]

33 minutes ago, capybara said:

So should management have an understanding with dancers that they will ‘stand down’ from certain roles once they have been performing them for a given number of years (seasons)?

 

I'm not sure that this should be an across-the-board understanding after a given number of years; but I do think that just because a dancer is experienced in a role it shouldn't automatically mean that they do it every time there's a revival, for the rest of their career. The big ballets do get performed a lot and new dancers have to be given opportunities.

[balletfanatic]

41 minutes ago, Sim said:

No she hasn't.  But I am sure she will get her turn next season.  It's one of the few story ballet lead roles she hasn't done (also Nikiya and Lise) so I will look forward to it.

Me too - it's one of my favourite ballets

[capybara]

52 minutes ago, Sim said:

No she hasn't.  But I am sure she will get her turn next season.  It's one of the few story ballet lead roles she hasn't done (also Nikiya and Lise) so I will look forward to it.

 

Yes indeed. Yasmine was mind-blowing as Mary Vetsera, she has been a stunning Cinderella, and it's great to think that Manon now awaits her.

[CCL]

4 hours ago, Suffolkgal said:

Just remembering a few partnerships from the past - Collier right at the end of her performing days finding a new glow with a big hunky Tartar! He was then destined for Bussell but then started dancing with Durante ... miraculous. Anyone remember Park/Eagling? They were wonderful too

I used to book almost exclusively back in the day for Mukhamedov/Durante. They were wonderful together. 
I’m in agreement with Dawnstar that I don’t see enough of Clarke because Osipova is not my automatic dancer of choice, but if Manon is on next season and Osipova is dancing,I’m very tempted to book…

[OnePigeon]

Durante and Mukhamadov were a dream partnership, I caught the tail end of Mukhamadov’s career and would generally book to see him with anyone, but he had developed a good partnership with Mara Galeazzi by the time I was seeing him. His final Mayerling is seared in my memory and I have yet to be as mesmerised by other performances.  I miss his bravura style and pure masculine presence, we were lucky to have Carlos Acosta in the company at the same time (my other go to performer with Rojo and Nunez).  They were incredibly dynamic and charismatic performers and I always felt safe watching them, not worried that they would drop their partners or make obvious mistakes as I have witnessed a few times lately. I do feel the absence of such dancers within the company presently, much as I love lots of them.   

[Fonty]

12 hours ago, CCL said:

I used to book almost exclusively back in the day for Mukhamedov/Durante. They were wonderful together. 
I’m in agreement with Dawnstar that I don’t see enough of Clarke because Osipova is not my automatic dancer of choice, but if Manon is on next season and Osipova is dancing,I’m very tempted to book…

 

Agree with both of these statements.  I adored Durante and Mukhamedov together.  I haven't seen Osipova dance for several years now.  Not because I have anything against her, but because money is limited and there are other principals who tend to fall into the Must See category for me.  

[bridiem]

I found Durante a strange dancer - physically brilliant and apparently abandoned, but her smile (or her anguish) never reached her eyes so I was never felt that her emotion was authentic. But she and Mukhamedov did go very well together physically and I absolutely loved him as a dancer.

 

In terms of today's dancers, I would love to see Sarah Lamb paired more with Muntagirov. Together they have given some of the most brilliant performances I have ever seen.

[Sim]

13 hours ago, CCL said:

I used to book almost exclusively back in the day for Mukhamedov/Durante. They were wonderful together. 
I’m in agreement with Dawnstar that I don’t see enough of Clarke because Osipova is not my automatic dancer of choice, but if Manon is on next season and Osipova is dancing,I’m very tempted to book…

Her Manon is well worth seeing.  I will never forget her performances with Vladimir Shklyarov when he came to guest with the RB a few years ago.  Stunning.  

[alison]

1 hour ago, OnePigeon said:

I do feel the absence of such dancers within the company presently, much as I love lots of them.   

 

I'm glad I'm not the only one.  At the same time, I think back to the Royal Ballet "Golden Age" of the late 60s/70s, before I started going, and somehow "miss" those dancers as well, despite never having seen them!   Maybe it's just a reflection of the way technique, artistry - and perhaps even public perception - and so on has changed in the intervening years.  Very fine though they are, I'm not currently convinced that I'll be looking back on the current generation in quite the same way.  I guess only time will tell.

[Emeralds]

17 hours ago, balletfanatic said:

I hope yasmine naghdi gets to dance Manon next season. I know she's done the bedroom pas de deux in a gala but she hasn't danced the whole ballet has she? 

Her breakout role that season was as Lescaut’s Mistress-suddenly she went from being typecast as the Dependable-Classicist-in-Solos (eg Rose Fairy, Shade, Florestan Trio, etc) and Excellent Sweet Ingenue/Young Heroine (eg Olga in Onegin, Juliet) to being the Charismatic Dance Actor with a lot of dramatic bite- it was the most powerful portrayal I had seen in years, and one of the best portrayals that season. Even with stars on stage, you often had to remind yourself to stop looking at Yasmine on stage when Manon/Des Grieux etc started dancing in case you missed all the solos and pas de deux! I think she would be an incredible Manon.

 

I noticed that in the past it took ages for Yasmine to be put in featured roles- in the DVDs of Don Quixote and The Two Pigeons, you can see Yasmine (dancing impeccably) in the corps de ballet even though she could easily have danced solo or featured roles by then very well. She went from being corps de ballet in the first runs of those ballets/revivals to dancing Kitri and Young Girl respectively in the following runs- an uncommon scenario when runs are less than 5 years apart. If anyone hasn’t seen her Kitri, I highly recommend booking for it next season (I’m expecting them to cast her, of course-it would be foolish not to).

 

By the way, if not already suggested earlier , Naghdi+Sambe were a compelling partnership in Don Q and Manon (as Lescaut & Mistress), full of virtuoso sparks, comedic fun and/or dramatic fire when the roles called for them. Another outstanding pairing worth repeating/reviving. 

[Emeralds]

17 hours ago, capybara said:

I know that I might need to run for cover very quickly by raising this issue but it is, in my view, relevant to what is proving to be a very interesting thread.

 

Mention has been made here and elsewhere on BCF of the amazing amount of talent there is within the RB, the relatively few shows each Principal gets and the seeming lack of space for First Soloists to be cast as leads. So should management have an understanding with dancers that they will ‘stand down’ from certain roles once they have been performing them for a given number of years (seasons)? This would not preclude dancers making debuts relatively late in their careers but could create opportunities for them and others which are not currently available because certain Principals will be cast irrespective of how many times they have had a role such as Manon.

It would also have the potentially beneficial effect of ‘refreshing’ some of the pairings we have been discussing.

 

Yes, I know the question would then arise as to how best to ‘occupy’ some Principals but maybe @Richard LH could put his Kevin hat on again and kick us off with some ideas 😉 ?

 

 

 

 

 

Good question.

 

I notice that some principals and first soloists are already being stood down (I won’t list who/what role unless people want examples!) and this has been done for a long time. But not as an automatic policy of “Your time is up after x number of seasons” as capybara suggests. I assume who continues and who is stood down is decided according to the leadership’s combined views of who is still dancing similar parts well, a mix of feedback -whose shows sold out/who received a lot of critical acclaim/audience popularity, who is on great form, who is nursing certain injuries. (Leadership referring to the artistic director plus advice and input from coaches and repetiteurs.) Also, dancers who have problems with injuries in certain joints/ligaments/etc also tell the director what they can or can’t manage eg “I can do Aurora but not all the jumping of Giselle” etc.  

 

I personally wouldn’t go for an automatic policy. For example, occasional attempts by either choreographers or directors to have completely new casts in modern  works despite the role creators or previous exponents of the parts still in the company turned out to be very  unsuccessful (eg the recent disappointing revival of Infra, where Naghdi was the only new cast member who could convey the drama and spirit of the work instead of just executing the steps)- the box office performance reflected this. Where it gets difficult is that fans/audiences paying for the tickets often disagree regarding who has been stood down and who continues! 

Edited April 22, 2023 by Emeralds

[OnePigeon]

1 hour ago, alison said:

 

I'm glad I'm not the only one.  At the same time, I think back to the Royal Ballet "Golden Age" of the late 60s/70s, before I started going, and somehow "miss" those dancers as well, despite never having seen them!   Maybe it's just a reflection of the way technique, artistry - and perhaps even public perception - and so on has changed in the intervening years.  Very fine though they are, I'm not currently convinced that I'll be looking back on the current generation in quite the same way.  I guess only time will tell.

That’s exactly how I feel.  I watch old footage from the 60s and 70s - before I was even born - of Dowell, Sibley, Gable, Seymour, Eagling, Wall, Park, Penney etc and I can see how magical and special they were and I see what we have lost over the years, despite advances in technique.  The generation I came to watch in the early 2000s were very special too, though the company had lost the particular English Royal Ballet style that I adore, the quality of dancers and their artistry was sublime.  I stopped going to the ballet for many years and have only recently started going again, and whilst there are some wonderful dancers now, I must admit I have yet to be blown away by anyone on the level that I was when seeing Mukhamadov, Acosta, Rojo, Bussell, Cojocaru etc - they were stars and I don’t feel we currently have many stars of that same calibre.

[capybara]

To a certain extent, I think that those of us who have been around for a while maybe saw ballet through a different lense way back. In the days before social media, audiences seemed to be more 'in awe' than they are today.

 

[I do agree about the calibre of many of those listed by OnePigeon but Bussell was never a star in my eyes.]

[Sim]

On 22/04/2023 at 14:10, capybara said:

Bussell was never a star in my eyes.

Nor in mine, I'm afraid.  I much preferred Belinda Hatley, who unfortunately was overshadowed by the 'star power' of Bussell.  Just my opinion.

[Fonty]

But Darcey was the epitome of a Star.  Gorgeous to look at, featuring on every poster put out by the ROH, always being photographed and interviewed by the media.  Her early career was like a fairy tale, plucked from the ranks to have a lead role created on her while still a teenager.  You can't get much more starry than that!  She had a huge following, and was adored by a huge number of people.  She was practically a household name; even people who had never seen a ballet in their lives had probably heard of her. 

 

However, like others, I preferred other dancers in most things.  Although having said that, I am not entirely sure why, when she was so popular.  

 

 

[OnePigeon]

She was most certainly a star and probably the most famous British ballerina since Fonteyn.  People who don’t know anything about ballet know who she is and she is still a household name, despite retiring around 20 years ago.  She may not be a favourite dancer, but she is one of the biggest ballet stars Britain has produced.

[Sim]

I think there is a difference between a 'star' and a true artist.  You can, of course, be both....but often you are not.